nysepost.com

Windsor's jobless rate up slightly

Mar 10 2018

The unemployment rate in Kitchener-Waterloo rose to 5.3 per cent from 5.1 per cent in February, despite a drop in the labour force. The jobless rate has only fallen to 5.8 per cent twice during that time, once in 2007 and again in December.

However, the Bank of Canada kept its key lending rate at 1.25 per cent at last week's scheduled rate announcement and said wage growth "remains lower than would be typical in an economy with no labour market slack".

In Ontario, employment was little changed in February with the unemployment rate settling at 5.5 per cent.

The numbers are in and Windsor's unemployment rate has notched up a few points.

But although the Bank of Canada's monetary policy is guided by data such as jobs and wage inflation, the labour force survey numbers will likely be heavily discounted.

Ontario was the big victor last month with a gain of 15,700 jobs, although the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.5 per cent, but is still the second lowest in the country behind British Columbia (4.7 per cent).

For February, the report also found that average hourly wage growth, which is under close watch by the Bank of Canada ahead of interest-rate decisions, stayed solid at 3.1 per cent.

So far this year, Statistics Canada says 282,500 positions have been added to the job market.

In January, Ohio employment in goods-producing industries, at 921,500, increased 1,300 over the month; gains in construction (+2,600) and mining/logging (+100) outweighed losses in manufacturing (-1,400). The country lost 39,000 full-time positions and generated 54,700 part-time jobs, according to the report. That's up from 4.8 per cent in January.